Please read story and answer questions!!!

[scoobydrew]

there was an add once in the newspaper that read "wanna make easy money? if so send 5 dollars with a stamped addressed envelope to the following address". People who sent money were then sent guidlines to put an add in a newpaper asking people if they want to make money, if so etc etc etc.

You could apply this to diving and become a course director...

 

[GrimSleeper]

I would really love an answer from specifically shop owners and such, because they, I HOPE can give me a good answer as to why compensation is so low for a professional in diving.

The short answer is, because there is no money in diving. Why? Because diving is capital intensive, both for shops and for divers, but is a leisure activity. Dive shops are competing with a host of other activities, not just for $$, but for the consumer's time. There are plenty of fun things to do at the weekend or on holiday that cost much less and are easier to learn.

That means that there is a finite and fairly small supply of consumers for diving, so they essentially get to set the price. And the price the consumers want to pay is low. Insanely, people will drop more money on a new phone than they're prepared to spend on learning to use life support equipment in a hostile environment. They'll spend more on a room and dinner than they're prepared to spend on the diving they've gone on holiday for. Add to that the fact that the agencies, by and large, make their real money from selling Pro courses, so you have a massive oversupply of 'Pros', many of whom - having spent the time and money to get there - are willing to work for nothing or next to nothing, at least for the year or so before the dream turns sour and they burn out. It's a recipe for low wages.

Oh, and it ain't the shops making the big bucks. Pretty much everyone I know is either going out of business, wondering whether they're about to go out of business, or runs the shop alongside a real business to keep it afloat. On the other hand, I'd imagine the Course Director you trained with didn't give his time away for free (although the money he spent to become a CD makes the amount you've spent so far pale into insignificance), and the agency won't have hesitated to extract the $$ from your pocket either. The guys constantly reinventing the wheel at the manufacturers probably do ok, too. The rest of us just do it for the free diving.

 

[RJP]

So to everyone, I understand the people "going in it for the love of it", and I do love it. with that being said, you gotta live. Do I want to get rich? No. Just live, but seems I was wrong. I just wish there was someone in the beginning that could have been honest. Thanks yall.

Q: What's the difference between a scuba instructor and a large pizza?
A: A large pizza can feed a family of four.

 

[GillScales]

You might look at buying/leasing a boat, getting licensed/ insured to take paying customers diving... Or fishing, water taxi etc. it's gotta be rough competing against other shops and the interwebz on equipment sales. As an independent instructor you're likely to spend half or more of your course fees on equipment Rentals and boat charters. Running those charters, seems to me to be the most likely way to make a living day in, day out.

 

[GrimSleeper]

You might look at buying/leasing a boat, getting licensed/ insured to take paying customers diving... Or fishing, water taxi etc. it's gotta be rough competing against other shops and the interwebz on equipment sales. As an independent instructor you're likely to spend half or more of your course fees on equipment Rentals and boat charters. Running those charters, seems to me to be the most likely way to make a living day in, day out.

Trust me, owning boats and taking people diving on them is emphatically not a way to make money...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[WhiteSands]

Trust me, owning boats and taking people diving on them is emphatically not a way to make money...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Just curious, is owning a live-on-board a good business? The owners I know seem to be doing well, but I heard it costs a lot of money to just berth the boats. About $4k a month where I live.

 

[abyss_scuba]

As an owner of a small dive shop I can tell you it is very hard but not impossible to make a DECENT living in scuba. I think that the first and most important rule is don't be a diver running a business be a business man who happens to sell scuba. When people come into my shop and ask why I didn't open a shop somewhere south I tell them too much competition not enough customers. Now as Bryan said the first thing you need is the support of your family. I rarely take a day off from May through August, working 21 days or more straight is not uncommon for me. So if you want to make money you need to hustle. I tried boat cleaning, underwater recovery, pool inspections anything and everything. I tapped into the paint ball market since I already have the compressor. I have been in business for 5 years now and the store pays for itself (a good thing) and I can contribute my half of the mortgage and bills ( a better thing),but I have no plans of buying a new car, fancy clothes don't mean much to me and hard work does not scare me. Know your area, know your customer and don't be afraid to try new things. If you can see running the business as an exciting challenge you are most of the way there.

And this is not a knock at scubaboard, but understand that this place is very biased towards independent instructors, online sales and back plates and wings. You might find better business advice at SBA or SCORE both of which are set up to help the small business succeed.

 

[vincent54]

The internet kills LDS sales. The resorts in warm climates are doing a lot of the new certifications and instructors will lose that potential income. I don't see future success in the business of diving. E train and fly south without even going into the local dive shop. The shop owners know there are a surplus of DM and instructors and appears they get dive instructors to work for free . From what I see, they live on tips. Boat ownership is a money pit and liabilities are high. However, the people not serious will quit and you might find opportunity.

My thought would be to work for NOAA and possibly do some research diving, or just do it on weekends. In the seventies, I was signed up at FIT for a future career in underwater welding , to take advantage of the booming oil industry, and found out even back then it was a loss. For me,the risk vs reward wasn't there. Now I have a wonderful career of picking scrambled eggs out of peoples teeth. Yum...

Don't listen to the negatives, set a goal and make it happen.

 

[RJP]

And this is not a knock at scubaboard, but understand that this place is very biased...

I'm shocked. Shocked to find that bias is going on in here!

 

[berk]

Perhaps the only thread of all times where everyone agrees: Being a dive instructor is not a good way to make a living.